Archive for October, 2007

Remember when Jon Kitna became the laughing stock of the NFL off-season?

“I’ll keep to myself what I think we actually will win. But it’s more than 10 games,” Kitna said during a June appearance on WDFN-AM in Detroit.

Quite a lot of confidence coming from the man who quarterbacked his team to a 3-13 record the previous year. But, lets give Kitna a break, he was a very underrated player, just ask Lions WR Roy Williams.

While declaring the Detroit the best 2-6 team in the NFL last season, and predicting that the Lions would win the rest of their games, Williams threw in his two cents on Kitna, saying he’s the best quarterback in the league. By the way, the Lions lost their next seven games.

However, Williams hasn’t jumped off the Kitna bandwagon, and the Detroit quarterback is on his way to meeting his prediction.

“Other teams can have their Brady’s and Manning’s, but we’ll take Jon Kitna anyday,” Williams said after a Lions win this season.

The Lions are off to a quick 5-2 start, good for fourth best in the NFC. Kitna predicted more than 10 wins, so we’re assuming he plans on winning at least 11. Don’t look now, but Detroit is on pace for 11 or 12.

Is it possible the Lions actually meet Kitna’s prediction? Only time will tell with Denver, NY Giants, Dallas, Green Bay twice, San Diego and Kansas City still on the schedule. But hey, maybe Kitna knows something we don’t.

1. USF (6-0) – The Bulls not only started the season unranked to climb to No. 2 in the BCS, but they’ve had a tough road to get there. South Florida boasts wins at Auborn and at home against West Virginia. Not an easy thing to do. The next three games will be the true test for USF as they play at Rutgers (4-2), at UCONN (5-1) and at home against No. 23 Cincinnati (6-1). If they can escape those three games unblemished, they have no excuse for losing one of their final three against Syracuse (1-6), Louisville (4-3) and Pitt (2-4).

2. Ohio St. (7-0) – The leftover players from the should-have-been champions feel like they’ve got something to prove, and they’re off to a good start. Once again undefeated and havent even played a close game. They’ve won every game by at least three scores. However, the Buckeye’s toughest games have been against Washington and Purdue, who are both suddenly failing to meet expectations. Don’t pencil OSU into your BCS title game yet, their final four are against Penn St., Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan, all of whom are currently 5-2.

3. Arizona State (7-0) – The arrival of head coach Dennis Ericson from Idaho has brought the Sun Devils something to get excited for. At 7-0, ASU finds itself in an unfamiliar position. Having already beaten Colorado, up-and-down Oregon State, and a Stanford team that knocked off USC, the Devils can’t be satisfied yet. Their next four? How about No. 12 Cal (5-1), at No. 10 Oregon (5-1), at UCLA (4-2) and No. 14 USC (5-1). Oh and by the way, don’t hand ASU a win against unranked UCLA quite yet, the Bruins are the only other team undefeated in Pac-10 play.

4. Boston College (7-0) – Led by heisman trophy frontrunner Matt Ryan the Eagles are enjoying their nice start. The problem is, the only way they get into the BCS title game is if somebody ahead of them stumbles. Right now, they might be ranked ahead of ASU in the BCS, but if both teams keep winning, the Sun Devils strenght of schedule puts them ahead of BC. The Eagles havent played anybody yet, and No. 11 Virginia Tech (6-1) is really the only tough game they have left, considering Florida State and Miami are only the third and fourth best teams in Florida. If play A (BCS No.’s 1, 2, or 3 losing) fails, plan B is to win every game by 35, that can always help negate an easy schedule.

5. Hawaii (7-0) – Colt Brennan decided to bag the whole heisman trophy thing. Maybe throwing 4 or 5 pics a game is more fun. Either way, the Warriors are still undefeated. The reason they’re not even sniffing BCS talk is their schedule, which is the easiest in college football. The only reason they’re ahead of Kansas in the SportsGarage top 6 is because they’re closest road game is a 2,500 mile trip. Their farthest conference game is flirting with 5,000 miles, when they went to Ruston, LA to take care of LA Tech 45-44. It’s not easy for the Warriors to win on the road, but they do.

6. Kansas (6-0) – It’s cool for Jayhawks fans to have something besides basketball to cheer about this time of year, but in a few weeks, there won’t be a word spoken about this football team on campus. Seriously, what kind of a non-conference schedule is Central Michigan, SE Louisiana, Toledo, and Florida International? It sounds more like a Duke Basketball schedule. With only one win even worth mentioning, a 30-24 victory over Kansas State, the Jayhawks face a few more tests before seasons end. They still play at Colorado, at A&M, at home against Nebraska, and a few weeks later, they finish the season with No. 16 Missouri. We won’t be talking about Kansas football by then.